Injury
by Claire Silverfall
Summary: Battles have taken many before their time; a medicine cat should know that better than anyone. But sometimes, an injury to the heart is the deadliest of all. Rated for character death, mild violence, and suicide. Slash; crack. Slight AU. FoxJay. Oneshot.


**Injury**

**_WARNING : THIS STORY INVOLVES SLASH (I.E, MALE/MALE RELATIONSHIPS). IF YOU DISLIKE SLASH, CLICK THE BACK BUTTON NOW._  
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**Yay, a non-songfic! I've finally learned to come up with my own inspiration! Anyway, this here is a slashy story about my favorite crack pairing, FoxJay. Foxleap and Jayfeather. I'm just that messed up. I haven't actually seen any other FoxJay stories... like, ever, so maybe I invented the pairing? I like FoxJay. They're pretty much polar opposites, it kind of reminds me of AshSquirrel... only slashier. And more forbidden, bleh. Usually I hate forbidden love stories, they're way overdone in the series, but I dunno. They're usually better in fanfictions than they are in the actual books, and not just my own stories... anyone's. Anyway. I'm done rambling.  
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****Disclaimer: I do not and have not ever owned the Warriors series by Erin Hunter.**  
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><p>Jayfeather stared on, horrified, as the smell of death wafted past his nose. His sightless eyes followed his ears, flicking back and forth nervously. His heart sank; another battle lost. "What happened?" he heard himself ask.<p>

"Rowanclaw met us at the border," Leafpool whispered hoarsely. "He thought we were an attack patrol. It turned into a battle."

The medicine cat could feel her shudder, and was almost thankful that he couldn't see. The smell of blood and death was overwhelming in the camp. "How many injured?" he whispered back, reluctant to ask the dreaded question. He didn't want to know the answer.

He could sense Dovepaw padding over, limping slightly. "Every cat is injured, except for Lionblaze. He doesn't have a scratch on him. I would have been killed myself, if it weren't for Tigerheart."

"Tigerheart? Isn't that a ShadowClan warrior?" the blind tom asked curiously.

He could practically feel the apprentice's blush. "Y-yes," she mewed quietly. He thought to interrogate her, but decided to ask about it later.

Jayfeather shook his head. "Are… are there any dead?"

He could hear Leafpool swallow. "Not yet…"

"What do you mean, not yet?" the medicine cat snapped. He didn't have time for her games…. His gaze swept across the camp again, though he couldn't see. He tried to pinpoint one cat, but found that he couldn't catch his scent.

"Foxleap," his former mentor whispered, and his head snapped in her direction. "He… he's barely holding on to life. I don't think he'll make it through the night."

Various emotions flashed across the blind tom's eyes, as he looked resolutely in her direction. "I can save him. I have to. He'll live," he meowed, trying to convince himself as much as he was her.

Leafpool's tail came to rest on his shoulder, but he flinched away from her touch. "Jayfeather… at this point, I doubt even the best medicine cat could save him."

"Then I'll be better than the best medicine cat," the tom growled. "He can't die. I won't let him die."

Tail whipping back and forth angrily, Jayfeather stalked over to where the scent of death was the strongest. "Bring him into my den," he meowed into the crowd of cats, whom he could hear licking blood from Foxleap's pelt. He was thankful to hear cats moving and shuffling, a sign that they had obeyed. He steadily lead them into the medicine den and gestured for them to lay the other tom down in an empty nest beside his own. "You can go now," he meowed to the other cats. He didn't bother to find out who they were; he didn't care about _them_.

Once the other cats had left, Leafpool poked her head into the den. "I know I'm not a medicine cat anymore, but do you want me to look after the other warriors while you take care of Foxleap?" she meowed hopefully.  
>"That would be good," he replied gratefully. He could feel her slipping past him and into the den, gathering the necessary herbs. Having taken what she needed, the tabby she-cat silently padded out of the den, leaving her son alone with Foxleap.<p>

Jayfeather began gently feeling through the other tom's pelt with one paw, applying cobwebs with the other. When his paw brushed the other's face, he felt his eyelids flutter beneath it and breathed a sigh of relief. After finishing with the cobwebs, he gently pried open the warrior's stiffened jaws and shoved a mixture of herbs into his mouth. He laid down in his own nest beside Foxleap, muzzle close to the tom's ear.

"You'll be okay, Foxleap," he whispered. "I won't let you go to StarClan yet. You can't…. Ferncloud will miss you. Icecloud will miss you. Dustpelt will miss you. Birchfall and Spiderleg will miss you. The whole clan will miss you."

He took a deep, shuddering breath, voice breaking, and closed his eyes. "I'll miss you. I never got to tell you…" he trailed off, shaking his head. "Good night, Foxleap," he whispered, curling up to sleep.

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><p>The medicine cat blinked open his eyes into the world of dreams, expecting to be in Foxleap's dream. However, the only thing he could see was a field of stars that seemed to stretch on forever. "Foxleap? Are you there?" he called, listening for the other tom's familiar voice. He began wandering around, looking for the other tom even though he didn't know what Foxleap looked like.<p>

Soon, however, he found himself in a dream not Foxleap's, but his own. In his dream, he smelled the familiar scent of the younger tom getting farther and farther away. He pushed forward through the dense fog, searching for the other cat, but the closer he got, the farther away the scent seemed. He tried to call out for the other tom, but found his voice swallowed by the heavy mist hanging in the air. Suddenly, he smelled the tang of blood, and raced towards the smell… Then, even the dream world turned black.

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><p>Jayfeather blinked his sightless eyes sleepily, panting for breath<em>. It was only a dream<em>, he told himself, trying to remain calm. He sniffed the air. Something smelled amiss… it smelled like death. "Foxleap? Foxleap, wake up!" he meowed, on his feet in an instant, feeling desperately through the other tom's fluffy pelt for a heartbeat. "Foxleap, no! You can't be dead! You can't leave me…"

The tom could sense Ferncloud an Leafpool entering the den to check on his patient. "So, Jayfeather, how is Foxleap doing today?" the older queen meowed cheerfully, oblivious to the strange scent lingering in the den. She didn't seem to notice how heavily the smell of death hung in the medicine den, but Leafpool did.

The medicine cat turned his sightless eyes on the two she-cats, and Leafpool noticed the stricken look on his face. "Oh, StarClan, Jayfeather…. Is he - is he gone?" she meowed in a hushed tone.  
>"I-I don't know," he whispered back, barely daring to breathe. He flicked his tail, silently granting the former medicine cat permission to look over the young tom. Ferncloud, meanwhile, stood paralyzed with horror at the entrance to the den.<p>

Leafpool had finished checking over Foxleap. "I'm sorry," she meowed quietly, before picking up the body by the scruff and carefully dragging it into the middle of the camp. A wail picked up, starting with Icecloud when she saw her brother's limp body.

Squirrelflight, his former mentor, growled, "Which ShadowClan foxheart did this? I'll shred them!"

"No, sister, you can't! It was Rowanclaw… attacking him would be a death wish for any cat!" Leafpool meowed desperately, trying to calm her infuriated sister.

_A death wish..,_ the medicine cat thought. _Well, what good was life without Foxleap?_

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><p>That night, as the other cats sat vigil, Jayfeather quietly slipped out of his den. Passing the warriors' den, he saw Briarlight snoring quietly. He padded in for a second, careful not to disturb the few other warriors who weren't sitting vigil for Foxleap. "You'll make a great medicine cat," he whispered in her ear.<br>He nodded to Dustpelt, who was on guard duty, as he left. He could sense the sadness rolling off of the senior warrior in waves. Dustpelt let the blind medicine cat pass without question, assuming he was just going to gather more herbs.

Numbly, the medicine cat padded forward past the edge of camp. He took a moment to stand by the water, alone, and feel the lake lap at his paws one last time. He imagined Foxleap looking down at him from StarClan. Shaking himself, he continued padding along the shore - towards the ShadowClan border.

Opening his mouth, the blind tom was confronted with the scent of Rowanclaw. His heightened senses told him that the hostile deputy wasn't far away, and he crept forward towards the scent. He heard a frog croak, followed by the rustling of pine needles, and followed the sound closer. When he was close enough to sense the other cat, he leapt forward with a yowl.

Rowanclaw hissed, startled. "What do you want, ThunderClan cat?" he snarled angrily. "You're on ShadowClan territory."

"You killed a warrior!" Jayfeather growled back, slashing his claws through the air in the direction of the other cat. "Warriors do not need to kill to win a battle."

Realization flashed through the ShadowClan deputy's mind. "You're a medicine cat," he meowed, laughing darkly. "And you're blind. You can't possibly expect to beat me," he taunted.

The medicine cat hissed and launched himself at the larger tom again, slamming into him and clawing at any bit of flesh he could get his claws into. He knew, however, that he couldn't win. The other tom was right; Jayfeather was blind, and Rowanclaw was a warrior. But he could try… he wouldn't let Foxleap's death be in vain.

At the thought of the fluffy-pelted tom, the blind medicine cat's senses were clouded by grief and rage. He fought harder, but the older tom soon had him pinned to the springy ground. Rowanclaw's thorn-sharp teeth pierced the medicine cat's throat before he could have a second thought. His body convulsed and he could feel blood pouring from the wound. He saw the same stars he had before, when he had tried to enter Foxleap's dream, for a moment. He blinked them away and in an instant saw the dark ginger-furred tom. He saw colors and shapes, as the ShadowClan forest came to life before his eyes. He knew now that he was dying.

Still furious, he lashed out one last time. His own claws caught the ShadowClan deputy's eye, and Rowanclaw yowls in pain. Jayfeather felt a sick sense of satisfaction knowing that, at least in part, the older tom would have to suffer as he had.

He watched Rowanclaw stumble away, yelping in horror, when he suddenly felt a presence beside him. He saw a tom with a thick, fluffy pelt of bright ginger fur. The tom's emerald green eyes sparkled as he looked at Jayfeather, and his starry tail came to rest on the medicine cat's spine. He wracked his brain, trying to figure out who the starry tom was, when the realization hit him.

"F-Foxleap?" he asked incredulously, straining his ears to identify the other tom's voice.

The ginger tom smiled. "Jayfeather," he meowed gently. "I've come to take you to StarClan."

Jayfeather frowned with confusion. "Why did you come for me? Instead of Yellowfang, or one of my ancestors?"

A hurt look crossed the other tom's features, and Jayfeather immediately regretted asking. "Don't you want me here? I thought you might be happy to see me..," he trailed off, staring down at his paws. "I can go back and ask for some other cat to come, if you don't want me here."

"No!" the silvery tom meowed, panicked. "No, please stay… I don't want to lose you again…" He pressed his own starry pelt against Foxleap's, pleading with the other tom. "I love you…"

The other tom was silent, with a stunned look on his face. Jayfeather began looking around nervously. He saw Leafpool, rushing over to his own body, with Lionblaze and Squirrelflight in tow. His mother ushered Briarlight over, who sadly pronounced him dead. He heard the tabby she-cat wail sadly for her son. He saw Briarlight crawling away sadly, muttering about how she dreamed of him saying goodbye. Lionblaze, Leafpool, and Squirrelflight picked up his body and began carrying it back to camp. Knowing that his Clanmates would be all right, he cautiously looked back at Foxleap.

The ginger tom smiled warmly at him. "They told me you did… I didn't believe them. I didn't think you would ever feel the same way I do. I love you too, Jayfeather."

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><p><strong>It appears that I'm incapable o<strong>**f writing a story without it turning into a big fluffy pile of "I love you"s at the end... huh. Oh well. Feel free to criticize, tell me if I made any grammar and/or spelling errors, don't flame the pairing unless you tell me something I should improve, blah blah blah. The usual. Thanks for reading!**


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